What is Ankylosing Spondylitis?
This is a type of spondyloarthritis, which is an autoimmune disease. It mainly affects the spinal cord.
Ankylosis – joint stiffness
spondylo- spinal cord
What causes spondylitis?
The exact cause is unknown. Most autoimmune diseases have genetic risk factors and environmental triggers that impair the immune system. The immune system begins to attack the joints and other structures. In ankylosing spondylitis, it attacks the sacroiliac joint (hip bone), spinal joints, hip, and sometimes other joints. It can also attack other structures, including the eyes.
How is ankylosing spondylitis different from other arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis causes swelling and pain in certain joints, while ankylosing spondylitis causes pain in the tendons (tendons of the bone) or at the junction of ligaments and bones (entheses). Rheumatoid arthritis mainly affects the joints of the hands and feet as well as larger joints such as the knee, ankle, shoulder. Ankylosing spondylitis mainly affects the sacroiliac joint, spinal joints, and hips, knees, and ankles.
Who can get spondylitis?
It usually begins in adolescence/teenage. It usually starts before the age of 45. It is 2-3 times more common in men than in women. Family members of patients with ankylosing spondylitis have a higher risk of developing it.
Who can get spondylitis?
The main symptom of ankylosing spondylitis is pain and stiffness in the lower back. This pain often increases with rest and subsides with activity. This pain increases during sleep or at night. There is stiffness in the body for more than 30 minutes after waking up in the morning.
Can ankylosing spondylitis cause pain in hands and legs?
Ankylosing spondylitis causes pain especially in the joints of the legs. Sometimes it may just cause pain in the heel.
How is ankylosing spondylitis diagnosed?
Rheumatologists examine your medical history and your musculoskeletal system and diagnose ankylosing spondylitis with the help of imaging (such as X-Ray/MRI of the sacroiliac joint) and blood tests (such as HLA B27 genetic testing).
Treatment -
There is no cure for it except Ayurveda and even in Ayurveda, Manmukh Ayurveda has achieved good success in its treatment. Thousands of people have gone back to their normal life by taking our Ayurvedic medicines and are living their pain free life.
